Furnace-charging mechanism



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PATE Nr *oFFi'cE JEROME R. GEORGE, or .WoRoEsTER,'aMASsAoHUSErTs Assis-.NOR To MORGAN cons'rRUorIoN COMPANY, or WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A coRroRATroN ork MAS- EURNaoE-CMARGING MEoHAMISM Application filed February?, `1929. Serial No. 338,195. i

The present invention relates in general to furnace-charging mechanism. Inparticular, the invention is 'concerned with the charg-v ing toy and handling within a furnace,of suct cessively delivered flatV billets orslabs, which, on account of their width, cannot be handled Y ,Y 'in-the` same manneras narrower stock.

Vhen narrow stock is 'charged,a short-stroke broadside pusher can be used within the furl," nace, and each subsequently delivered bar y or .billet can ,be guided on one Side by the wallof the furnace and ronthe other side by Jthe billet which has'been moved-outof charging position by said short-stroke pusher. 15 When wide stock is being charged, each piece must be pushed, broadside, well down the inclined supporting hearth or floor, and hence it can afford no guidanceV forthe next piece charged onto the horizontal receiving'portion operative action' of a fixed interior surface, Vsuch als the furnace wall, and an outside-guiding device effective against the other yedge of the slab or billet, whereby the latter is accu- Y yrately positioned on the hearth in full-length edgewise ContactA with said wall, before the broadside movement is imparted Furthermore, this guidance and control, as exercised upon each'piece entering the furnace, enables any .already-charged piece'to be pushed from Y behind by the piece immediately following to the far end of the hearth, if said furnace is wide enough to accommodate twov orinorev of said hearth. According to the invention, the required guidance is Supplied, bythe co showing the furnace-charging mechanism ofV my invention.

l. Fig. 2 is a. large scalesectional view of the charging end of the furnace, showing theoperation of thevbroadside pusher devices.

Fig. 3 isa view similar to Fig. 1, illustratf-v ing' the operation of*l the mechanismfin forin' I ing. two .rows of bars for. .movementtbroadside 'through the furnace.

`Figs.' l and 5 are diagrammatic views in horizontalsection,` illustrating different stages inthe operation of feeding a piece of 1 stock into the furnace.

Fig. 6 is a. plan wem-showing, on alarger, f

scale than Figs. l and 3, the exterior guiding means of the charging mechanism. j i c Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures. i

Referring first to Fig. `l,jthe `furnace A, which may be of conventional construction,

provides in its side wall l the usual charging opening 2, through which each of the successively deliveredbillets orslabs is projected l endwise Within the furnace, each piece is receivedon a horizontalV supporting portion 3 of the hearth, )reparatory tothe action thereon of broadside pushers 4L, 4L that operate, as shown in Fig. 2 `to push each piece broadside onto the inclined portion of the ,heart-li or floor, the latter formed in part, as

here shown by the inclined skids 55; by this action a row of pieces is formed, which has a step-by-step broadsidevinovernent through the furnace.

As showniin 2, each pusher 4 hasfak :d

6 of the furnace. An arm 32 secured to said rock shaft 30, derivesjinotion through a connectingl rod 33 from` a crank or eccentric 34'.

Each operationof vthe latter procures movement in unison of all the pushers 4, 4, from thefull line retracted. position ofFig. 2' to the broken line position of the same figure,

,the previous piece 35.

and then back again to retracted position. In handling relatively wide stock, as illustrated at a in Fig. 2, this broadside pusher movement by which the stock is shifted from the horizontal receiving portion 3 onto the inclined skids 5, 5, must be suilicient to allow the broadside-moving piece to tip over into a. condition of flatwise support on the inclined skids before-coming into edgewise contact with the piece immediately ahead of it on said inclined hearth; -in other words, unless the piece being 'transferred 'broadside to the inclined. skids 5, 5 can have Vmore thanoneguidance for the movement onto such receiy'ving portion of the next-arriving piece.

To provide such guidance, and to secure tlie 'correct positioning of each piece within the furnace before commencement of its broadsiding movements, as well as the straightening, as vfares possible, of pieces that arrive in a warped or curved condition, yniyinvention contemplates the provision of means, exterior ofthe furnace for cooperation with the endV wall 6 thereof, to square up'each piece edgewise with 'the inner surfaceV of said wall,-

thus eliminating the necessity for using devices, located inside the furnace, for this purpose.` Such interior devices, as exemplified by the skewed rollers of Edwards andl Carroll Patent No. 701,023, dated May27, 1902, being subject at all times to the intense heat of the furnace interior, can have only a relatively short life.v My'invention obtains the same results such interior devices, without eX- j'iosing any operatingparts 'to the high temperature of the furnace chamber.

To `this end, as shown in Fig. 1, the successivek pieces to be charged are caused to approach the opening 2 in such a manner as to be impinged upon and pressed against the wall 6 this can be accomplished, for example,

Vby delivering' the stock on a series of con- .veyor rollers 7, 7, which may be driven by suitable gearing from a common operating shaft 8, and which preferably-have their axes skewed in ysuch manner as to produce, concurrently with the vendwise movement of the conveyed piece'toward the opening 2, a. side- Wise or edgewise vmov'enient ytoward a longitudinal guide 9. In other words, this 'appreach ofthe conveyed piece toward the openling 2, is preferably such as to carry-the advancing endof said-piece outof line with megane said opening, and on the opposite side of said opening from the end wall 6 of the furnace. To guide the piece toward said opening 2, from its above described out-of-line position, and more particularly to press it continually toward the wall 6, there is interposed between said series of skewed rollers 7, 7 and said opening 2 a guiding device, which includes arroller 10 for edgewise contactwith the piece, immediately adjacent the opening 2 on the outside of the furnace.

` Said roller 10, as shown in Fig. 1, is carried by one arm of a bell crank lever 11, the latter being pivoted atr1'2 and having its other arm subject tothe expansive force of a spring 13, whereby the roller 10 is yieldingly held in any given position as determined by the adjustment of the guide bracket 1d, by vwhich said roller 10' is carried. As shown in Fig. 1, said guide bracket 14;, which carrie-s the pivoted bell crank mounting 11 of roller 10, is itself pivotally mounted, as shown at 15, so 'that the position of said roller can be adjusted with reference to a fixed guide section 16, that keepsthe front end of each piece in yposition to enter the vopening V2; any desired form of guide may be used for this purpose. A transverse slot 17 in the bottom of the fixed guide is provided for the passage of a bolt 1S that also passes through a slot 19 of guidel bracket 11i. By means of a nut 20 on bolt 18, the guide bracket 14 may be set and held in any position ofangular adjustment within the limits afforded by said slots, thereby todispose the rol-ler 10 in the desired relation to the opening 2, as determined by the width ofthe stock that is being fed to l'the furnace'through said opening.

Assho'wn in Fig. 4, and as above described, the arrangement of mechanism is such that each piece of stock-,1in its movement toward the opening 2, approaches and enters 'said opening from the side which is opposite to the guiding end wall 6, with the result that the front end of each piece hasone corner 21 directed against said wall '6. inasmuch as this oblique direction of movement through the opening 2 is maintained for vnearly the entire length ofthe piece, and due to the fact that the spring 13, underV compression because of the crowding action ofthe piece Von roller 10, is constantly exerting its force to push the piece toward thewall 6, theengagement of corner 21 with said wall 6, as the piece is moved Afarther and farther into the furnace, is maintained, 4as shown in Fig. 1, and-finally, as shown in Fig. 5, the expansive force of'spring 18 acts Von the rear end of the pieceto produce full-length edgewise contact of said piece with said wall. By this time, of course, the piece is free of the skewed rollers 7, 7, but kits complete movement into the furnace, in the-'absence of suicient momentum imparted by said rollers 7, 7, is arsulred by pinch rollers 22located in or lnear of end wall, While each single bar,

the opening 2 and driven in any suitable manner, as through gearing 23 from a motor 24.

The piece thus charged into the furnace and resting'on the horizontal hearth port-ion 3 in full-lengthvedgewise contact with the end wall 6, can now be acted upon by the broadside pusher devices, as hereinaftery described in detail, with definite assurance that such action will inaugurate the orderly step-bystep broadside travel of the piece down thel inclined furnace floor `5, 5; such action is as# sured, inthe absence of buckling, because of the control' and guidance exercised upon 'the' piece during the charging operation' to estabg lish its full-length edgewise contact with the end wall' 6. If the furnace'beiwiele enough,

side of the furnace, without disturbing the ultimate squared-up relation ofeither bar `to the guiding end wall 6.' The broadsidev pushing action, whether the bars be charged singly, for the formation of .one row, or in tendem, for the formationof two or more rows, is the same,and is accomplished by pushers 4, 4 that, in the usual manner, oc-

cupy a retracted position, Ain apertures 27, 27y l or each set of bars in tandem, is being fed through the opening 2.

l. In mechanism of the class described,

the combination with a furnace having a' charging opening, adjacent its rear wall, of means for procuring the approach of each l bar towards said opening from the side of said opening which is remote from said wall,

f thereby to-project a front corner of said bar against said wall, and means for maintaining said corner vin contact with said Wall as the bar continues to advance into the furnace, said last-named means operating to thrust the rear end of the bar toward said wall, thereby to establish full-length edgewise contact of said bar with said wall.

2. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a furnace having a charging opening adjacent one wall thereof, of means comprising of the furnace, to advanceeach bar toward the furnace in out-of-line relation to said charging opening, and means interposed between said rollers and said .furnacefor directing the advancing end of said bar oblique- `ly through said opening, thereby to procure contact of one front corner of said bar withl said furnace wall. j

3. In mechanism of the class described, the

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skewed rollers, exterior combination with a furnace having a charging opening adjacent. onevwall thereof, of means comprising ofthe furnace, t advance each'bar toward the furnace in outf-.of-lin'e relation toV said charging opening,` and means interposedv between vskewed rollers, exterior 'ler said rollersfand said`furna`ce`for` directing Y the f advancing* end .of` said. 'ibar obliojuely-l vthrough saidsop'ening, thereby to procure contact of onefront cornereofsaidbar withsaid Y lfurnace wall, saidlast-named 'means' adapted to exert al yieldingpressureI on 'saidbar Ato maintain saidcontact; andl to finall procure` the full-length edgewisefcontactko .said bar with said' furnacej wall;g Y' v il. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a furnace'havinga chargmeans exteriorof the ,furnace for procuring, by yielding pressure against one edge of each bar charged, the full-length contact of the' opposite edge of saidbar with said furnace Wall.

' 5.`In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a furnacehaving a charging s exterior of the furnace for procuring, 1Syn-.yielding pressure against one'edge of each 6. The combination with a furnace having a chargingV opening adjacent its rear wall,` of a pair of Vpinch roller-s adjacent said open-y ing t procure the longitudinal movement of the 's ock into the furnace, and means in advance of said pinch rollers for guidingk the jppening, adjacent one wall thereof, of-

soy

lng opening, adjacent one wall thereof, of

charged, the full-length contact ofthe f opposite edge of said bar with said furnace '.vvall, said last-named means being adjustable to bars of different widths without' effect on the pressure exerted thereby.

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7. 'Furnace charging mechanism of the :class described, comprising a series of skewed `rollers for the combined forward and sidewise movement of the stock, in its passage toward the charging openingy of the furnace, Y

and guiding means interposed between -said skewed rollers and said charging `opening f for imparting to said stock a sidewise deflection in opposition to the sidewise movement imparted by said'skewed rollers, thereby t'o y maintain the stock in'its passage through said opening at an acute angle to the axis of said opening. j

8. In mechanism of the class described, the n y combination with a furnace having a charging opening adjacent one. wall thereof, of means exterior of the furnace for establishing substantially full-length contact of'each bar charged through said opening with said furnace wall, said means Acomprising a fixed guide, substantially parallel'with said wall, at` one side of saidopening, and an adjustabler device, pressing yieldingly against eachbar at the other side of snidope'ning.

- 9. VIn mechanism ofthe class described, vthe combination with `a furnace Ihaving a, charging Opening *adjacent one Wall thereof, `of

mea'ns'ektierior ofthe furnace -forV establishing subsitantiallg7 fulhlength Contact of .each har charged throughfsaidl opening with said furnace wall, said --memns comprising a, spring- 1, y pressed 4guide member `zujacent that sideA of said opening which is farthest from said Wall,

mnd means -for'causingeah bar tofulcrum on said guide member, in. 'its passage through said opening. I

- JEROME R. GEQRGE. 

